ATTENTION: These pages have not been updated since 2019 as PCCF no longer hosts the Park County Early Childhood Coalition
The Park County Early Childhood Coalition is a collaborative group of parents, educators, service providers and community members committed to starting every Park County child on a pathway of positive possibilities. Park County is in a unique position due to our size and ability to connect with every child and family living in our community. The Coalition has significant community capacity (the ability to plan, make decisions, and act together), to realize positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes for young children in Park County (prenatal to age 8).
It is the Coalition’s goal to work with all children and their families, while emphasizing support for those at highest risk. Coalition focus areas include:
- Kindergarten Readiness: To create a county-wide kindergarten skills list of evidence-based indicators of lifelong success used across Park County.
- Preschool Professionals: To provide support, valuable resources and professional networking opportunities for Park County early childcare providers.
- Quality Care Development: To increase access to affordable high-quality childcare in Park County rural communities
- Community Outreach & Involvement: To increase community awareness of the importance and benefits of investing in early childhood development activities and initiatives.
- Health & Wellness: To connect crucial healthcare services to young children, as well as education and support for early childhood educators.
Based in Livingston, but extending throughout Park County, the Coalition has been a core program for the Park County Community Foundation since 2012. At its conception, a collective impact effort was needed but no other organization had the capacity to take on the convener role and eventually hire a coalition coordinator. In early 2018, the coordinator position was restructured under a private-public partnership between the Community Foundation, the City of Livingston and the Livingston School District. The partnership is a positive step forward in regards to the sustainability of the Coalition as well as the coalition coordinator position.
Coalition efforts are directed by the Guiding Council, formed by early childhood community leaders that can speak to the needs of the Park County community.
The Coalition actively participates in many local and statewide early childhood efforts including:
- Montana Best Beginnings Council
- Project LAUNCH
For more information please contact the Coalition Coordinator, Jacqui Poe at jpoe@livingstonmontana.org or 406-223-4459.
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